DNV is taking lifeboat safety one step further. The company claims that maritime lifeboat safety will be enhanced by transferring offshore lifeboat design practices to ships.

The shortcomings of existing free fall lifeboat designs were revealed in a number of incidents related to structural safety, human loads and headway back in 2005. A joint industry project was initiated by OLF (the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association) to find the reasons for these incidents.

The project revealed that the SOLAS requirements, on which the design criteria were built, were based on lifeboat performance during test launches into calm waters and from heights significantly smaller than those encountered on host facilities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. With larger waves and drop heights than those presumed, the lifeboats were exposed to greater loads and damage, which explains the shortcomings revealed in 2005.

Tags: DNV